Biteback, May 11

■ Who will want the poisoned chalice of chairing the BBC Trust after
Chris Patten? The hapless Patten probably expected a pleasant ride at the
Beeb, but along came Jimmy Savile, the Lord McAlpine debacle, George
Entwistle’s hasty departure, high executive salaries and ridiculous payoffs.
Bet he wishes he had just stuck with a jolly job such as chancellor of
Oxford University, where you are dressed in robes and have convivial college
dinners. On the horizon now is Janet Smith’s report into the culture at the
BBC in the Savile era, and the prospect of the trust being disbanded.

Even so, big beasts are being mentioned, including Howard Stringer, former
boss of both CBS and Sony, and Marjorie Scardino, once chief executive of
Pearson. The Welsh-born Stringer has lived in America for most of his life,
though he has a home in Oxfordshire. Now a non-exec director of the BBC
board,